


The Last Reel Project

by MsFaust



Series: Inky Tales [191]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Gen, Good AU, Mild Crossover, Other Toons exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 16:54:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17348999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsFaust/pseuds/MsFaust
Summary: In order to stay alive as Joey Drew Studios’ final days came to a close, Bendy, Boris, and Alice entered stasis. Seventy years later, they are awoken.





	The Last Reel Project

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this post on Spacebattles: https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/crazy-crossover-concepts-round-5.268593/page-379#post-51979846

_Excerpt from_  Born from the Inkwell: A History of Toons—  
  
In the mid to late late 1940s, many cartoons went off the air, meaning the Toons who starred in them were in danger of losing their physical forms. Mickey Mouse didn’t want his fellow Toons to suffer such a fate, and so he—along with his pals at Disney—came up with the Last Reel Project, permitting animation studios that couldn’t compete with the more successful ones to enroll up to three of their characters. The selected Toons would be placed into stasis, allowing them to remain alive and stable until a more permanent solution could be found. By 1948, three facilities had been constructed: one in Burbank, one in New York City, and one in Orlando. Not long after, dozens of hopeful Toons were enrolled, entering a long slumber.  
  
Eventually, in 1979, a method to stabilize Toons who had lost their shows was found, and over time, many of those placed into stasis were awoken and treated. Sadly, the 1977 blackout caused the New York facility’s life support systems to malfunction, killing all but six of its residents. Betty Boop, one of the surviving six, went on to form Anon-imation, a self-help organization not only for those Toons who came out of stasis, but for other Toons who were suffering heavy emotional trauma, such as the survivors of the Mentha Studio affair.  
  
Most of the Toons who came out of stasis ended up either getting new shows or joining the casts of Disney, Warner Brothers, and similar. Among the latter were Bendy the Dancing Demon and his two friends Boris the Wolf and Alice Angel, who had been enrolled at the Burbank facility at the request of their creators Joey Drew and Henry Stein.  
  
The three were first awoken in October of 2018...  
  
(Last Reel)  
  
Bendy’s eyelids fluttered as he slowly returned to the waking world. His arms felt mildly stiff, but he was able to move them, rubbing sleep sand from his eyes.  
  
”Oh, well, I guess you don’t have trouble moving your arms,” a voice said. “Still, let’s make sure the rest of you still works properly. Can you sit up?”  
  
Bendy did so. “How long have I been asleep? And where are my friends?”  
  
”Well, Boris should be awake any minute,” the voice’s owner—a cat Toon whose name tag read ‘Ortensia’—replied. “And Alice is being stabilized now.”  
  
Relieved, Bendy allowed her to complete her checkup, and about ten minutes later, he was reunited with Boris and Alice in the facility’s meeting room. Oswald was waiting for them, along with a young man with light brown hair and glasses.  
  
”Hey there,” the rabbit greeted them. “Mickey had to go to this big meeting. Something about buying a fox, I think—I was only half listening. Anyway, he asked me to fill in for him.”  
  
He gestured for the three to sit down, which they did. Bendy gave the man a curious look.  
  
”You look kind of like Henry.”  
  
“Henry Stein, you mean?” the man asked. “I’m his grandson, Henry Walters. That’s why Oswald called me in.”  
  
”No need to introduce yourselves,” Oswald chimed in. “He already knows who you are. So, what do you want to know first?”  
  
(Last Reel)  
  
While the trio was saddened to hear that both Joey Drew and Henry Stein had passed away during their time in stasis, it wasn’t a surprise. All the Toons who entered the project had been warned that it would probably be a long time before they awoke, and there was a strong chance their creators would be dead by the time it happened. Fortunately, the younger Henry, who was an animator like his grandfather had been, was more than happy to help them get adjusted to the present day.  
  
Less than a week after their awakening, the Toons got to meet some of the new crew. Since their original voice actors were long dead, the studio where the new Bendy cartoon would be produced was picking new ones for them. At the moment, only Alice’s new voice had been chosen, which proved to be something of a relief—when a Toon’s voice actor was changed, their own voice was often altered, which tended to leave their throat sore for a while. Well aware of this, Henry had provided Alice with some hard candies to suck on, which helped quite a bit.  
  
”Hey, Henry!” a boyish-looking brunette called out cheerfully. “These the new kids?”  
  
”Mm-hmm. Wally, meet Bendy, Boris, and Alice. Guys, meet Wally Franks, our resident gossipy janitor.”  
  
”Actually, they’re thinkin’ of letting me audition for a new character,” Wally chuckled. “Sammy an’ Susie are almost done recording, Norman’s in his usual spot, Shawn’s down in the break room with Tom and Lacie, and Grant’s in his office. Oh, and Allison’s running a little late, but she’ll be here soon.”  
  
”Great,” said Henry. “We’ll go find Norman while we’re waiting for Sammy and Susie to finish. Come on, guys.”  
  
Yes, it was going to take time for the trip to fully adjust to the present, but so far, it was looking good.


End file.
